photo courtesy WBTV

“There’s that truck again,” I remarked to my wife.  I always had to smile when I saw the black GMC with the big flags flapping in the wind.

Peyton Robinson, a senior at York Comprehensive High School in York, SC, has been driving his truck around our end of York County with two large flags attached to the bed – an American flag and one that honors POW/MIAs.  Yesterday, he was pulled from class and sent to meet an administrator in the parking lot, where he discovered his flags had been removed and placed in the bed of his truck.  He was told by school officials, “Do not return to school with these flags.”

After school Robinson drove home, re-mounted the flags, and decided that he was not going to allow anybody to mess with his truck – or his patriotism.   He posted a photo of the American flag in his truck on social media with the promise: “Still flying, and it ain’t coming down.”

Robinson is the kind of guy you hear about in modern country songs.  He not only drives a truck, he also works at Tractor Supply, is a volunteer fireman, an avid hunter, a devout Christian, and is into bull-riding and Chris LeDoux.  When word got out around York and Robinson’s hometown of McConnells that one of their own good guys was going to take a stand for the American flag, folks came from every direction to support him.

An impromptu parade of more than 70 vehicles filled with flag-waving friends, classmates, and local patriots made its way through town and then parked in front of the school for a demonstration, country-style.

The story topped the news all over this mostly conservative South Carolina county, and was soon picked up by national media.

Robinson told a radio reporter that school officials gave him three different reasons for their anti-flag action.  “First they told me that somebody had complained about it,” he said.  “Then they said there was a rule against flags.  Finally they said it was a safety hazard.”

The school’s superintendent, Vernon Prosser, cited a ‘standing policy’ against flags, but Robinson said no official policy was ever produced, and flags are neither mentioned in the student handbook nor on the school’s website.

“I’d understand if it was the Confederate flag or something that might offend somebody,” Robinson told WBTV news. “I wouldn’t do that. But an American flag? That’s our country’s flag. I have every right to do it.”

Today the school district waved its own white flag, issuing the following statement on its website:

Over the last 24 hours, an issue has been brought to light regarding our policy of flags not being allowed on our students’ vehicles in the student parking lot.  Due to the outstanding display of patriotism through peaceful demonstration, it is apparent to us that many are not happy about this policy.  School officials have reviewed the standing policy regarding flags and have decided that an exception will be made for the American flag, as long as the size of the flag(s) does not create a driving hazard.

As administrators of York Comprehensive High School, we are extremely passionate Americans and have deep seeded feelings of patriotism.  We promote the good citizenship in our classrooms, fly the American flag in our rooms, in front of the building, and on our athletic fields.  We have a student lead the pledge of allegiance every morning.

We appreciate the passion and pride of all who have called or come by YCHS over the past 24 hours. America was founded by Patriots who led positive change in a myriad of ways.  We believe today is a great example of peaceful demonstration leading to positive change.  This is the very process we advocate in our Social Studies classrooms and the fabric of American citizenship.  Thank you for helping us as we educate the students of our community.

Our state employees always answer the phone with the sunny greeting: “It’s a Great Day in South Carolina!”  And today WAS a great day.  A patriotic young man stood up for his principles.  His community rushed to support him.  And the school district made a good decision based on input from its constituents.

This post can be seen in its entirety at Watchdog Arena.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I like to turn my music way up loud
Ain’t nothin’ better than the sound of a crowd
American flag it makes me proud
That’s how I like it

That’s How I Like It – Lynyrd Skynyrd

Last week yet another race-related uprising wounded a US city, and President Obama’s promise of a “post-racial America” is a distant memory.  Who is to blame?

“So when I hear that Baltimore has been run by the Democrats for the last 50 years,  I don’t hear a ‘diss’ on the Democrats.   I hear: ‘Republicans have SUCKED for the last 40 to 50 years!’  We can all agree that the progressive ideology is destroying America.   It breeds death, destruction, and poverty.  How bad do Republicans have to be to LOSE to death, destruction, and poverty!?”

Sonnie Johnson – hip, young, black, and female – just smacked her fellow conservatives upside the head.  Her talk at the RightOnline digital media conference last weekend was a wake-up call, to say the least.  The Bloggers,Tweeters, Facebookers, and other new-media writers and thinkers who attended got a blistering, take-no-prisoners, Breitbart-style tongue-lashing, the effects of which will not wear off for some time.

Republicans and conservatives seem to have given up the African-American community as a lost cause.  In the face of media reporting of near-monolithic black support of liberal Democrats, it seems that right-wing political leaders don’t believe they have a chance to win black voters.

“For years I have been trying to tell Republicans and conservatives that there is a real anger brewing in the black community . . . way before Baltimore, way before Ferguson.  If we don’t do something our cities are going to be set on fire . . . and there is no excuse for burning down your own city.  There is no damn excuse!”

Like many conservatives, I have never understood identity politics.  Voting for somebody because of skin color makes no more sense to me than voting for somebody because they are right-handed.  But then I was not born into a culture that had been perennially subjugated, lied to, and used.

“Is the black community perfect?  No!  But I still live there.  It is still worth fighting for.  I see black people and I love them.  I love being black.  I love black people.  I love black culture.  I love hip hop.  I love fried chicken, watermelon and sweet tea!  I can go from zero to ghetto in a heartbeat!  But I can also point to the intellectual need to destroy the progressive ideology in America.    What better place to start than the wasteland that we have ignored for decades?”

What we don’t understand, we can sometimes still accept.  In the Obama era, African-Americans have endured higher unemployment, deeper poverty, poorer education, and little of the “hope and change” that was promised them.   Still, Republicans don’t often publicly challenge black support for the liberal ideology that has failed them.  Sonnie Johnson has given up on some of them, too.

“We can’t, nor would I want to, reach the people who want to “Kill Whitey”.  To reach the people who WANT to live in section 8 housing – who WANT to collect food stamps – who WANT to be dependent on the government for everything – these people are perfectly fit to be Democrats!  And the Democrat party can have them! “

Conservatives recognize and celebrate the common aspirations and values of all Americans, regardless of skin color. Surely African-Americans want the same quality of life and opportunities for their families that all other Americans do.

“There is a section of black America that has a ‘get up, get out, and get something’ attitude . . . they wear hoodies – they dress in all black – they walk with a swag in their step – they are not “thugs” just because they are in tune with their culture – they are the black conservatives you have been looking for, but refuse to see!”

Democrats have long taken the voting loyalty of African-Americans for granted.  Can Republicans and conservatives ever expect to turn that ship around?

“This is about more than just gaining new voters – it’s about losing the black conservatives we have.  It’s the government’s responsibility to provide housing, jobs and food?  And the citizens are told not to think for themselves but to blame the color of their skin and accept the shitty hand that has been dealt to them?   For 50 years Republicans have allowed that ideology to grow and fester.  Democrats want to be the party of the poor.  In order for that to happen they have to keep you POOR!”

“So when you hear black people screaming to be heard, it’s because they know the people who govern them are not listening. They want American government to fail because they HATE what progressives have done to them.  Where is the conservative solution?” 

Who is to blame?  Everybody, according to Sonnie.  Several days after her passionate speech, and having had time to think about the stir it caused among her conservative audience, she told me, “I wanted to tell the black community:  ‘The same people that set your trap, designed your circumstance, let your cities burn…now want you to protest for $15 an hour to flip burgers for a lifetime, and [protest about] global warming, and LGBT rights and equality.  That’s more hope and change that you will never see.”  But she takes square aim at conservatives, too.  “ I think the black community is waking up, but there is no safe place on the right for them to ease into conservatism.   Saying to them ‘we’ll accept you, you just have to change everything about yourself and your culture’ isn’t really inviting.  If there were more people that focused on themselves instead of society as a whole, society would be better for it.”

African-American conservatives are ready to leave behind the failed liberal policies of the last 50 years.  All they need is leadership.  They have that in Sonnie Johnson.

This post can be seen in its entirety at Watchdog Arena.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I’ll shine up my old brown shoes.
I’ll put on a brand new shirt
I’ll get home early from work
If you say that you love me.

I Want You To Want Me – Cheap Trick